The army said seven soldiers and four backup troops were killed in two ambushes in Burkina Faso’s volatile north.

The army stated in a statement on Friday that two soldiers and four civilians assisting the army were killed in the first attack near Solle on Thursday, while five paramilitary troops were killed in another raid on the same day in Ouanobe.

According to the army, the ambushes were conducted by “terrorists,” a word that refers to jihadist organisations active in Burkina Faso’s north.

It stated nine people were injured and that the remains of about 20 attackers were discovered during clean-up efforts.

Weapons, ammunition, transportation, and communications equipment were also discovered and confiscated or destroyed.

Since 2015, jihadist groups connected with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have carried out assaults in northern and eastern Burkina Faso, killing over 2,000 people and displacing about two million.

Burkina Faso’s West African neighbours, Mali and Niger, are also plagued by unrest related to Islamist organisations.

[embedpost slug= “germany-will-deliver-howitzers-to-ukraine/”]